Vending machine



Aug. 11, 1936. I B, FRY 2,050,307

VENDING MACHINE 2/01? 61 1? I will m Au 11, 1936. B L FRY I 2,050,307

I VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m. 2. 7 I a B. L.FRY

VENDING MACHINE Aug. 11, 1936.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 12, 1935 Z 35 H w W Aug. 11, 1936. B. L. FRY2,050,307

VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 gl Q 4/ 26 I9 351,42 5] J0 V I Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8Claims.

This invention relates to vending machines of that general class shownand described in my co-pending application, filed in the United StatesPatent Office, September 27, 1934, and bearing Serial No. 745,823.

The object of the invention is generally to improve the construction ofthe machine and increase the efficiency thereof whereby positively toprevent unauthorized or fraudulent delivery of merchandise.

A further object of the invention is to provide the coin carrier with apivoted latch which normally locks the carrier against sliding movementon the carrier guide and which cannot be released until a coin of theproper weight, size and denomination is inserted in the coin chute.

A further object is to provide means movable with the coin carrier forreceiving a single cigarette or other article of merchandise from themagazine whereby to retain the cigarette or other article in parallel.relation to the forward edge of the carrier guide during the dispensingoperation and thus insure positive and accurate delivery of said articlewithout damage thereto or interfering with the proper functions of themachine.

A further object is to provide the coin carrier.

with lateral supporting lips disposed beneath the article holder and onwhich the cigarette or other article drops when released from saidholder and from which the article is ejected for delivery to a purchaserupon retraction of said coin carrier.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in allthe figures of the drawings,

Figure l is a perspective view of a vending machine constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a rear. elevation, the cabinet being open.

Figure 3 is a. horizontal sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail transverse sectional view of the plungerandits associated parts.

Figure 7 is a perspective View of the coin carrier and guide thereforseparated but approximately in their proper positions.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view showing theposition of the parts as a coin enters the coin carrier.

F gure 9 is a similar view showing the coin fully inserted in thecarrier and with the locking arms elevated or released and said carrierjust starting on its forward movement. 7

Figure 10 is a similar view showing the positio of the parts on afurther forward movement of the plunger and with one of the articlesfrom the magazine within the holder.

Figure 11 is a similar view showing the position of the parts uponinitial return movement of the plunger with the coin released and aboutto enter the coin receptacle and with one of the articles resting on thesupporting fingers.

Figure 12 is a similar view showing the parts as the plunger approachesthe limit of its return movement with one of the articles about to beejected from the supporting fingers for delivery at the front of themachine.

As shown in the drawings, the machine comprises a cabinet including aback section or plate 5 having a flange or bead 6 along its edges and afront section 1 connected to the back by hinges 8 so that it may beswung open, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, to permit refilling ofthe magazines. The back plate is provided with openings 8 through whichscrews or other fastening devices may be inserted into a wall or fixedsupport, but it will be understood that the machine may be mounted uponor secured to a pedestal or the like if desired. In closed position thefront section of the cabinet fits closely within the flange 6 of theback plate and is secured by a lock 9, the key of which may be kept bythe owner or custodian of the machine.

The front section is preferably provided with glazed windows ID for thedisplay of labels or samples identifying the goods in the magazinesbehind the respective windows and a mirror II is preferably secured uponthe front of the cabinet above the windows in order to give the machinean ornamental appearance. The front of the cabinet immediately below thewindows is extended laterally to provide a ledge or step l2, and coinchutes l3 are fitted through and secured in said ledge one below eachwindow, said chutes being so designed as to admit a coin of, the propersize, weight and denomination to operate the. machine. Mounted ontheinner side of the wall of the cabinet behindeach window is a magazineI4, the lower end of which fits within the upper end of a receivingchute [5, the magazines being properly positioned by lugs IS on thecabinet wall and held against movement at their upper ends by springfingers IT. The lower end of each receiving chute I5 is open to permitthe discharge of cigarettes or other articles therethrough and securedto the lower end of each coin chute is a leaf spring l8. Arrangedbeneath each receiving chute I5 is a coin carrier guide [9 which may bestamped from a single integral sheet metal blank, said carrier beingprovided with lateral wings or shelves 2!] having transverse slots 2|formed therein and provided with pendent flanges 22 at the front edge ofeach shelf through which and the front wall of the cabinet securingbolts are passed. The material between the shelves or wings 20 isdepressed to form a trough or channel 23 in which the coin carrierslides, said coin carrier being indicated at 24. The side walls of thetrough 23 are provided with horizontal slots 25 and its front wall witha vertical web 26 having a central opening 21 through which theoperating plunger 28 reciprocates, there being a similar alined openingprovided in the front wall of the cabinet, as shown. Upon the floor ofthe trough 23 is a longitudinal rib 29 upon which the inserted coinrides to drop into a seat 3!! at the rear end of the rib and thusprevent return movement of the coin. Continued inward or rearwardmovement of the coin causes it to drop successively into a seat 3| andover the end of the trough into a coin box or till 32 supported in anyconvenient manner below the coin guide. The rear edges of the supportingshelves or wings 20 are tilted up wardly, as indicated at 33, to retardmovement of a cigarette or other article deposited thereon and it willbe noted that the transverse slots 2| intersect and open through thetilted edges 33 of the shelves 20, as shown.

The foregoing description delineates the construction of the vendingmachine shown and described in my co-pending application, previouslyreferred to, with the exception of the transverse slots 2| in thecarrier guide and I will now proceed to explain fully the improvementsthereon constituting the subject-matter of the present invention.

Slidably mounted in each trough 23 is a coin carrier consisting of ablock 34, the rear face of which is provided with a channel 35 adaptedto receive a coin and the upper portion of the wall of this channel isinclined or beveled at 36 so as to positively direct the coin into thechannel. Projecting vertically from the front wall of the block 34 arespaced arms 36' preferably normally disposed slightly below and at therear end of the coin chute IS, the metal constituting said arms beingextended laterally in a horizontal plane in opposite directions and bentupon itself to form an elongated holder 31 adapted to receive a singlecigarette or article from the magazine and hold said cigarette inparallel relation to the forward edge of the carrier guide during thedispensing operation and thus insure positive and accurate delivery ofsaid article without damage thereto or interfering with the properfunctions of the machine. Extending forwardly from the holder 3'! arecut-off fingers 38 which are movable to a position beneath the bottom ofthe magazine when the plunger is moved inwardly and serve to prevent thedischarge of the articles from the magazine while a single cigarette orother article is being dispensed from the holder 37. The cut-01f members38 are extended downwardly at the rear of the holder and thencelaterally to form supporting fingers or ledges 39 on which the cigarettedrops when released from the holder and the purpose of the transverseslots 2| is to accommodate the intermediate portions of the members 38during reciprocation of the coin carrier.

Coacting with the block 34 of the coin carrier is a pivoted latch 49,the front wall of which is normally disposed at an angle or inclinationto the wall of the channel 35, said latch being provided withhorizontally disposed locking arms M which coast with stop lugs 42formed at the rear end of the trough 23 and serve to prevent slidingmovement of the coin carrier until after a coin has been inserted in theslot i3 and drops into the channel 35 which action causes the coin totilt the latch and move the arms 6! out of the path of the lugs 32 so asto permit rearward movement of the carrier. When the coin has beendischarged, the latch 45 will move by gravity to its normal position atan angle to the wall of the channel 35 and with the locking arms 4idisposed in alinement with the lugs 42. The latch 48 is provided withspaced ears 43 and extending through said ears and into the block 3 1are lateral pins 44 which act as pivot pins for the latch. The outerends of the pins 54 extend through the slots 25 in the carrier guide andserve to guide the coin carrier therein during reciprocation of saidcoin carrier. Retractile springs 45 are secured at their rear ends tothe pins 4 and at their front ends to the flanges 22, the pins thusserving as anchors for the springs, guides for the carrier, pivots forthe locking latch, and by contact with the ends of the slots 25, asstops to limit the movement of the carrier. ends of the supportingledges or fingers 39 are preferably bent upwardly, as indicated at 45,so as to prevent displacement of a cigarette thereon until the coincarrier has been fully retracted.

Normally, the parts are in the position shown in Figure 5 of thedrawings with the lowermost article in the stack disposed within theholder 3'! and in contact with the up tilted edge 33 of the carrierguide. If a proper coin be inserted in the coin chute it will pass intothe slot or channel in the block 34, the spring 18 yielding butfurnishing just enough resistance to guide the coin into said slot andthis guiding of the coin is further effected by the beveled wall 36 ofthe r channel, as best shown in Figure 8 of the drawings. If a lightercoin or a cardboard disk be inserted, the spring will deflect itlaterally out of the path of the slot or channel 35 without effectingthe operation of the machine. A proper coin being inserted, the weightof said coin will tilt the latch 33 on its pivot and allow the coin tocome to rest on the guide rib 29 and in which position the locking armswill be elevated above the stop lugs 42 so as to permit inward movementof the carrier, as best shown in Figure 8 of the drawings. Afterdepositing a coin, the customer pushes the plunger 28 inwardly, therebycausing the coin to drop into the seat 39 whereupon the rib 29 willprevent its withdrawal or retrograde movement of the coin carrier. Theinward movement of the plunger continuing, the coin will drop onto theseat 3!. As the coin car rier moves inwardly, a cigarette or otherarticle will be moved by the holder 31 rearwardly of the machine and thecut-off fingers 33 wi l pass beneath the bottom of the magazine andprevent the further discharge of articles therefrom, as best shown inFigure 11 of the drawings. When the holder 3'! reaches a position overthe sup- The free ment of the carrier, a coin chute for directing a.

porting ledges or fingers 39, the article contained in the holder willdrop onto and be supported by the fingers 39 and at the same time thecoin will be'ejected from the seat 3| and'drop into the till 32, thedischarge of the coin happening at the extreme end of the inward strokeof the plunger. When the coin is discharged, the springs 45 will retractthe coin carrier and the cigarette or other article will roll off of thedeflected ends 46 of the supporting fingers and drop onto an inclinedplate 5:: arranged beneath the till and in position to permit its easyremoval at the discharge opening 5| of the machine. It will here benoted that after the coin has been discharged and the coin carrier isretracted, the pivoted latch 40 will assume its normal position at anangle to the wall of the chan-- nel and thus again bring the lockingarms 4| in position to coact with the stop lugs 42 and prevent furthermovement of the coin carrier until a coin of the proper denomination,size and weight has been inserted in the machine.

It will thus be seen that the machine cannot be operated unless a propercoin be inserted and the article will not be delivered until after thecoin has dropped into the coin box so that two articles cannot beobtained by a single coin. It will, furthermore, be noted that inasmuchas the articles are successively delivered to the holder 31, which is ofapproximately the same size and shape as the article, and said articleis carriedby the holder to the point of delivery, it follows that therecan be no lateral movement of the article while in transit which wouldtend to cause it to jamb and'interfere with the proper functioning ofthe machine. While I have shown a machine especially designed andadapted for vending cigarettes one at a time, it will, of course, beunderstood that the machine may be used with equally good results forvending any other desired commodity either singly or in packages and Ido not want the invention to be limited in this respect. It will,furthermore, be understood that the machines may be constructed with asingle magazine or a gang of magazines and operated with a coin of anydesired denomination.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A vending machine including a casing, means within the casing forsupporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway below the stack andprovided with stop lugs, a coin carrier slidably mounted in the guidewayand including a pivoted latch coacting with the lugs for normallypreventing sliding movement of the carrier, a coin chute for directing acoin into the carrier, an article holder movable with the carrier andprovided with cut off fingers adapted to extend beneath the stack ofmerchandise when the carrier is in extended position, supporting lipsdepending from the holder and adapted to receive an article from saidholder, means whereby the coin in the carrier will tilt the latch topermit sliding movement of the carrier and delivery of a single articlefrom the holder onto the supporting fingers, and means to preventdischarge of the article from said supporting fingers until the coin isreleased.

2. A vending machine including a casing, means disposed within thecasing for supporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway below the stackand provided with stop lugs, a coin carrier slidably mounted in theguideway and including a pivoted latch having locking arms coacting withthe lugs for normally preventing sliding movecoin into the carrier, anarticle holder movable with the carrier, supporting members carried bythe holder, means whereby the coin in the carrier will release the armsfrom engagement with the lugs to permit sliding movement of the carrierand delivery of a single article from said holder onto the supportingmembers, and means to prevent discharge of the article from thesupporting members until the coin is released.

3. A vending machine including a casing, means within the casing forsupporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway below the stack providedwith spaced sto-plugs, a coin carrier slidably mounted in the guidewayand providedwith a coin receiving channel, said carrier including apivoted latch normally disposed at an angle to the wall of the channeland provided with spaced locking arms coacting with the stop lugs andnormally preventing sliding movement of the carrier, one wall of thechannel being beveledto direct a coin therein, an article holder movablewith the carrier and provided with cut off mem'- bers adapted to extendbeneath the stack of merchandise when the carrier is in extendedposition, and means whereby the coin in the carrier will tilt thelocking latch to clear the lugs and permit sliding movement of thecarrier and delivery-of a single article from said holder.

4. A vending machine including a casing,-

means within the casing for supporting a stack of merchandise, aguideway below the stack and provided with wings having transverse slotstherein, spaced stop lugs on the guideway, a coin carrierslidablymounted in the guideway and including a pivoted latch having lockingarms coacting with the lugs for normally preventing sliding movement ofthe carrier, an article holder forming part of the carrier and providedwith oppositely directed article cut off and supporting fingers movablewithin the transverse slots, a coin chute for directing a coin into thecarrier, means whereby the coin in the carrier will tilt the lockingarms out of engagement with the lugs to permit sliding movement of thecarrier and delivery of a single article from the holder onto thesupporting fingers, and means to prevent discharge of the article fromsaid fingers until the coin is released.

5. A vending machine including a casing, means within the casing forsupporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway below the stack providedwith oppositely disposed slots and spaced stop lugs, a coin carrierslidably mounted in the guideway, a latch pivotally mounted on thecarrier and spaced therefrom to form a coin receiving channel, saidlatch being provided with locking arms coacting with the lugs tonormally prevent sliding movement of the carrier, pins extending throughthe slots in the guideway and engaging the carrier and on which thelatch is pivotally mounted, springs forming a connection between thepins and guideway, an article holder movable with the coin carrier, acoin chute for directing a coin into the carrier, and means whereby thecoin in the carrier will tilt the latch to permit sliding movement ofthe carrier and delivery of a single article from said holder.

6. A vending machine including a casing, means within the casing forsupporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway below the stack, spacedstop lugs on the guideway, a coin carrier slidably mounted in theguideway and including a block having a coin receiving channel therein,the upper wall of which is beveled, a locking latch pivotally mounted onthe block and normally disposed at an angle to the adjacent wall of thecoin receiving channel, said latch being provided with spaced lockingarms coacting with the stop lugs for normally preventing slidingmovement of the carrier, a coin chute for directing a coin into saidchannel, an article holder movable with the carrier, cut-01f fingerscarried by the article holder and adapted to extend beneath the stack ofmerchandise when the carrier is in extended position, article supportingfingers extending laterally from the holder, means whereby the coin inthe channel of the carrier will tilt the latch to release the lockingarms and permit sliding movement of the carrier and delivery of a singlearticle from said holder onto the supporting fingers, and means toprevent retrograde movement of the carrier until the coin is released.

'7. A vending machine including a casing, means within the casing forsupporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway disposed beneath the stackand provided with a central channel having terminal stop lugs, a coincarrier slidably mounted in the channel of the guideway and including ablock having its face cut away to form a coin receiving channel, a latchpivotally mounted on the block and provided with spaced locking armsnormally resting on the bottom of the guide channel and coacting withthe lugs for preventing inward movement of the carrier, said latch beingnormally disposed at an angle to the wall of the coin receiving channel,an article holder movable with the carrier, a coin chute for directing acoin into the coin receiving channel, means whereby the coin in the coinchannel will release the latch to permit sliding movement of the carrierand delivery of a single article from said holder, means for preventingdischarge of the merchandise from the magazine during delivery of thearticle from the holder, and means for preventing retrograde movement ofthe carrier until the coin is released.

8. A vending machine including a casing, means within the casing forsupporting a stack of merchandise, a guideway below the stack providedwith lateral wings having upwardly tilted terminals and provided withtransverse slots opening through said tilted terminals, said guidewaybeing provided with a central channel having spaced stop lugs at one endthereof, a coin carrier slidably mounted in the channel of the guidewayand including a block having a channelled face to receive a coin, alatch pivotally mounted on the block and normally disposed at an angleto said channeled face, said latch being provided with horizontallocking arms coacting with the lugs to normally prevent sliding movementof the carrier, a holder movable with the carrier and adapted to receivea single article from the stack, supporting fingers carried by theholder, a coin chute for directing a coin into a channel of the carrier,means whereby the coin in said channel will tilt' the latch to permitsliding movement of the carrier and discharge of a single article fromsaid holder onto the supporting fingers, means to prevent retrogrademovement of the carrier until the coin is released, and means forejecting the article from the supporting fingers upon return movement ofsaid carrier.

BENJAMIN L. FRY.

